Spring 2010 Search

In the past ten years there has been an explosion of research on children's
real time language comprehension. Young children, like adults, interpret
language in a cascaded fashion, with processes at higher levels of
linguistic analysis beginning before processes at lower levels are complete.
Our work demonstrates that children's structural processing is smart is two
ways. First, preschoolers use multiple sources of information to constrain
syntactic parsing and converge on the most probable analysis of an unfolding
utterance. Second, during language comprehension, children employ abstract
mappings between syntax and semantics which can be primed. These mappings
are of roughly the scope posited by linguistic theories of argument
realization.
Preschoolers and adults are different in some respects: children make worse
use of context and have difficulty revising their interpretation in light of
conflicting evidence. One is tempted to conclude that changes in language
processing during the school years largely reflect domain-general cognitive
changes in processing speed and cognitive control. I'll present preliminary
work showing how these techniques and ideas can be used to study language
processing in children with autism.

Monday, March 22, 2010Why "fear" isn't "frighten": the meaning, acquisition and processing of verbs for psychological states

Verbs for psychological states have two distinct patterns of argument
realization, presenting a challenge for theories of the syntax-semantics
interface.
1. Subject-experiencer verbs: The candidate feared/enjoyed the grueling
interview.
2. Object-experiencer verbs: The grueling interview frightened/pleased the
candidate.
If both types of verbs assign the same thematic roles (or have the same
event structure), we would be forced to conclude that there is some degree
of lexical arbitrariness in argument realization. Pesetsky (1995) has argued
that these verb classes differ in their thematic roles: the object of a
subject-experiencer verb is the target of the emotion, while the subject of
an object-experiencer verb is the cause of the emotion. We have been
exploring this hypothesis by: 1) collecting adult judgments on the
conceptual properties of psychological predicates; 2) tracing the
acquisition of these argument realization patterns; 3) testing how these
patterns are extended to novel verbs; and 4) investigating how causal
inferences are made (for both classes of verbs) during online processing.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010Non-local signatures in words: Evidence from production and perception of English complex vowels

Although non-local dependencies are common within and across sentences, they are relatively rare within words, limited primarily to cases of vowel and consonant harmony. As a result, word structure often seems to require a strictly local analysis distinct from other levels of language. In three studies focusing on lexically contrastive pairs such as bite versus bide, I pursue the hypothesis that non-locality does occur regularly within words, at the fine-grained level. The bite-bide pairs make a good test case because their diphthongal vowels offer both a local and a non-local target for the vowel lengthening triggered by voiced final consonants.

The production study demonstrates that speakers implement the bite-bide contrast with non-local dependencies which are absent from other alternations that also condition vowel lengthening, such as phrasal position and speech rate. The two perception studies demonstrate that listeners can use this dependency to identify bite versus bide. These results provide evidence that non-local dependencies do occur within the fine-grained structure of the word, and furthermore that such dependencies act as a unique signature for lexical contrast. An appropriate analysis of word structure therefore must permit, and motivate, non-locality.

Many researchers have proposed that phonological processes recruit listed allomorphs in order to satisfy constraints on surface structure. Such proposals can offer a unified treatment of both suppletive and regular allomorphs, but at a cost: the phonological alternations that characterize regular allomorphs are re-cast as listed morphological alternations. In a study of French adjectival liaison, I seek evidence as to whether this cost is justified. Liaison offers a good test case because it recruits both suppletive allomorphs (bel[le] ‘beautiful-FEM’ versus beau ‘beautiful-MASC’) and regular allomorphs (parfaite ‘perfect-FEM’ versus parfait ‘perfect-MASC’) in order to satisfy a constraint against vowel hiatus (Perlmutter 1996, Tranel 1996, Steriade 1999). Preliminary results from a word recognition task focusing on regular liaison adjectives indicate that listeners treat these words as if they involve a change in morphological gender, rather than the insertion of phonological material. The implication is that even phonologically regular allomorphs bear evidence of distinctly morphological origins.

The field of sentence processing is in the middle of a revolution in the
way people view the relation between domain-general working memory
processes and parsing routines, driven by novel experimental data (e.g.
McElree, Foraker & Dyer 2003; Van Dyke 2007) and successful
computational models (Lewis & Vasishth 2005). By tying together insights
from psychology and computer science, researchers are now in a position
to make specific claims about the computational character of the memory
systems that drive parsing. In this talk, I will explore the
contribution of linguistic structure to this line of research by
presenting two case studies that examine the interaction between
linguistic representation and working memory processes. In the first
part of the talk, I examine the role of linguistic structure in gating
memory access by examining the Mandarin Chinese long-distance reflexive
ziji. Long-distance reflexives are an interesting test case because they
require the use of structural information to resolve their antecedent,
and can have potentially unbounded search spaces. I present
speed-accuracy trade-off data that indicates the use of a hierarchically
structured search process in resolving ziji's antecedent-anaphor
dependency, along with data from event-related potentials that suggests
possible algorithmic implementations of this search. In the second part
of the talk, I examine a subclass of interference effects known as
'partial cue overlap' effects. By comparing negative polarity items
(NPIs) and reflexives in English, I will argue that the locus of these
effects is in processing errors that are particular to NPI dependencies,
rather than an architectural fact about the parser. These results
suggest that memory search strategies are sensitive to linguistic
structure in surprising ways during online processing, a finding that in
turn suggests new ways of exploring the interface between working memory
and linguistic structure-building.

Thursday, March 11, 2010(Non-)interference in agreement and reflexives

There are a growing a number of studies investigating "illusions of
grammaticality" across different long-distance dependencies. Across this
work, it appears that some dependencies (e.g. agreement and negative
polarity items in Pearlmutter, Garnsey & Bock 1999; Drenhaus, Saddy &
Frisch 2005) are highly susceptible to these illusions, while others
appear to remain more grammatically faithful (e.g. reflexives in
Clifton, Frazier & Deevy 1999; Sturt 2003). Due to a number of possible
differences between the relevant studies, however, direct comparison is
difficult to do. This session describes work in progress that directly
compares reflexive and agreement dependencies to contrast the effect of
these interference effects across dependency type. These dependencies
provide a crucial test for the role of structure-independent
feature-matching operations in processing, as they require retrieval of
information at the same structural address. Initial results support the
hypothesis that reflexives in general are not as susceptible to
interference as agreement. This result, if true, provides further
evidence that feature-matching is structurally constrained. However,
proving that reflexives show no interference at all represents a
difficult statistical problem; it requires the researcher to demonstrate
the truth of the null hypothesis, which is not generally possible with
traditional methods of hypothesis testing. In the current experiments,
proving a null result carries significant theoretical purchase. In order
to begin to make this argument, I will present an alternative Bayesian
method of data analysis (Gallistel 2009) that allows inference about the
existence of null effects.

Language acquisition has traditionally been conceived of as a
matter of acquiring representations, such as words or syntactic rules.
However, the young learner must also develop the ability to coordinate
these representations in order to comprehend utterances in real-time.
Do children consistently generate the same kinds of interpretations as
adults do during comprehension? In cases where they do not, what is the
nature of this developmental difference and what does it reveal about
the connections between various linguistic representations? I will
introduce three lines of work that investigate these issues by comparing
patterns of sentence processing in five-year-olds and adults. Part 1
examines whether cascaded processing in word recognition is a basic
architectural feature of the lexicon or one that is based on extensive
linguistic experience. Part 2 examines how morphosyntactic markers
which identify thematic roles influence interpretation of passive
sentences in Mandarin-speaking children. Part 3 examines whether
children can generate post-semantic inferences to capture a speaker’s
intent. Altogether these results suggest that like adults, children
exhibit incremental processing of language. However, unlike adults,
children often fail to inhibit/revise initial interpretations. More
broadly, this work highlights ways in which viewing language as a series
of linked representations and comprehension as a process sheds light on
the developmental trajectory of children’s interpretations.

Monday, March 8, 2010Distinguishing the time-course of lexical and discourse processes through context, co-reference, and quantified expressions

I will describe on-going work that examines the division
between lexical- and discourse-level processes in the interpretation of
quantified and co-referential expressions. Part 1 examines how
different forms of a quantified expression can highlight distinct sets
within discourse. Participants’ responses in a passage-completion task
and a self-paced reading task indicate that while positive forms like
‘some’ highlight the specified amount (the reference set), negative
forms like ‘only some’ are ambiguous between this quantity and the
remaining amount (the complement set). Part 2 tests whether this
discourse ambiguity introduced in the negative quantified context had an
immediate or delayed influence on co-referential processing using an
eye-tracking while reading paradigm. At the lexical level, early
eye-movements indicate immediate facilitation during reading of repeated
anaphoric expressions. However, relative to this benchmark, the
influence of context on the processing of referential ambiguity at the
discourse level is much slower. Finally, part 3 examines how lexical
and discourse processes are distinguished in the brain by comparing the
interpretation of new and repeated expressions using event-related
potentials. New expressions generate greater negativity during the
250ms-500ms window (N400) while infelicitous co-referential repeated
expressions generate greater positivity during the 500ms-800ms window
(P600). Altogether these results suggest a robust division between
lexical and discourse-level processes during language comprehension.

Friday, March 5, 2010The role of probabilistic enhancement in phonologization

Phonological contrasts make crucial reference to features, which are in
turn signaled by various subphonemic cues. When the balance of cues
changes sufficiently such that a previously intrinsic cue becomes
extrinsic, this cue is said to have become phonologized (Hyman, 1976). A
considerable body of recent work has focused on the extent to which
recurrent patterns of phonologization should be attributed to channel
effects (such as misperception) or to analytic biases (such as UG).
While this approach highlights the potential differences (or lack
thereof) in evidence favoring one mode of explanation over another, it
is silent on the issue of precisely how these biases influence ongoing
sound change.
In this talk, I present a framework for investigating the relative
contribution of bias in phonologization by modeling phonetic contrasts
using Gaussian mixtures (Nearey & Hogan, 1986). I argue that
phonologization is the result of an adaptive enhancement strategy,
driven by loss of contrast precision, that optimizes both listener- and
speaker-oriented constraints (Lindblom et al., 1995). Subphonemic cues
are targeted and enhanced in a probabilistic fashion, proportional to
their informativeness and the precision of the contrast they help to
cue. I will present the details of this model and illustrate with an
account of the ongoing phonologization of pitch in Seoul Korean (Kang &
Guion, 2008).

According to phonetically-based phonological frameworks, functional
constraints such as perceptual distinctiveness play a central role in
shaping phonological behaviors (Boersma, 1998; Hayes et. al, 2004). This
view is challenged by evidence of phonetically unnatural patterns active
in synchronic phonological grammars (Anderson, 1981; Hyman, 2001). I
consider arguments for the phonetic grounding of phonological features
in Vietnamese tone, where it has been argued that, despite dialectal
differences in the phonetics of tone production, phonetically grounded
tone features are shared across dialects (Pham, 2001, 2003). From the
results of a cross-dialectal perception study, I argue that the features
relevant for the perception of tones no longer correspond to their
phonologically active counterparts in any straightforward way, either
within or between dialects. This result is discussed in terms of its
implication for the notion of phonetically grounded phonological
constraints, as well as for the relationship between subphonemic and
categorical levels of linguistic structure.

Spring 2010 Colloquia Series

Friday, April 30, 2010Localizing the Phonology Interface for Alternative Semantics

We try to synthesize these hypotheses: (i) There is an isomorphy
between the phonological and semantic scopes of focus. (ii) In situ WH
phrases in Japanese-type languages are literally focused. (iii)
Alternative semantics for WH and ordinary F are covered by a single
system of semantic values.

Friday, April 16, 2010Complex wh-questions in non-native German and non-native Spanish: On the role of input, transfer and data elicitation tasks

Spanish and English only display “long-distance” wh-questions such as A quién piensas que ha conocido Marsias? (Who do you think Marsias has met?) while languages such as German allow “scope” wh-questions such as Was glaubst du wen Samir getroffen hat? (*What do you think who Samir has met?) as well as “copy” wh-questions such as Wen glaubst du wen Samir getroffen hat? (*Who do you think who Samir has met?). In spite of the fact that neither “scope” nor “copy” wh-questions are grammatical in English, both have been shown to occur in the adult L2 English grammars of speakers whose L1s do not exhibit them. This presence has been accounted for as evidence that adult L2 learners have access to Universal Grammar (UG) principles. Namely, these learners produce and accept these constructions because even though they are neither available in the input nor in their L1, they exist in other natural languages. However, since we do not know whether non-native grammars depict all the possible constructions available in natural languages, the reason why “scope” and “copy” constructions occur calls for a more compelling explanation. First, since “scope” and “copy” constructions have not been found in spontaneous production, one could conclude that their presence is induced by the actual experimental tasks. Second, these constructions seem to occur in the non-native grammars of speakers with a low level of proficiency and never at rates higher than 15%. In fact, the “target” constructions are always the preferred choice and, while the rate of the “scope” construction could reach 15%, the rate of the “copy” construction is always lower. This could suggest that they are an interlanguage phenomenon due to either a processing need (i.e. every C position has to be filled with a wh-Comp) or to a misanalysis of the complementizer or the actual wh-word. It could also suggest that there is a universal hierarchy according to which “long-distance” would be the default option and “scope” would come in second place. Actually, it comes as no surprise that “scope” and “copy” have a different status in the English non-native grammars because there is no consensus in the literature as to whether or not the two constructions should be analyzed in similar terms. In fact, it has been argued that in “scope” constructions the matrix wh-word does not move from the embedded clause but represents an independent question from the embedded one.

Based on the above, we have carried out a study intended to investigate whether: (i) both “scope” and “copy” wh-questions occur in L2 developing grammars other than English where neither the L1 nor the target grammar exhibit them; (ii) input and transfer determine the status of these constructions in non-native grammars (iii) the “target” > “scope” > “copy” pattern of preference attested in L2 English developing grammars constitutes evidence for the existence of a universal availability hierarchy and (iii) “scope” and “copy” have a different status in both native and non-native Spanish and native and non-native German.

The results of a grammaticality judgments task administered to two groups of adult English and French speakers and two groups of adult Czech speakers learning German and Spanish as foreign languages, as well as to two control groups of native German and Spanish speakers show that: (i) the presence of these constructions in non-native Spanish—and therefore in other non-native languages where neither the L1 nor the target grammar exhibits them—may be task-induced; (ii) input and mainly transfer play a clearer role in the case of “scope” than in the case of “copy” wh-questions; (iii) the hiearchy does not hold; and (iv) there is no evidence that “scope” wh-questions are interpreted as instances of two different questions.

Friday, April 9, 2010Information Structure Effects on Prosody: English vs. French

Germanic and Romance languages differ in how prosody is affected by
information structure. Ladd (2008), e.g., observes contrasts between
English and Italian that reveal differences in how argument structure
and information structure affect prosody. These differences seem to
generalize to other Romance and Germanic languages (see Swerts et al.
2002, Swerts 2007 for experimental evidence on Dutch, Italian, and
Romanian). Using experimental evidence (mainly from English and French),
this talk explores the semantic, syntactic, and phonological
underpinnings of the prosodic differences. The observed patterns suggest
a connection between seemingly unrelated facts, e.g., the stresslessness
of indefinite pronouns such as 'something' and contrastive focus; they
reveal that both semantic and phonological givenness play a role in
focus marking, as do constraints on syntactic movement; they cast doubt
on claims of a universal nuclear stress (Cinque 1993); and finally, they
have repercussions in sometimes unexpected ways, e.g., they influence
what types of rhyme are considered artistic in poetry.

In this talk I propose a unified approach to two long-standing ellipsis-related conundrums: (1) the fact that the existing literature on ellipsis is highly taxonomical and construction-oriented; and (2) the fact that ellipsis appears to show great variation cross-linguistically. Based on the approach put forth in Van Craenenbroeck & Lipták (2005, 2006, 2009) I argue that a cross-linguistically refined theory of ellipsis can tackle both issues at once. The analysis is then further refined by incorporating Thoms' (2010) movement theory of ellipsis licensing and by expanding the approach to other types of ellipsis.

Spring 2010 Lectures

Tuesday, May 11, 2010Extending the comparative dimension of diachronic syntax A parsed corpus of Icelandic from the 12th century to modern times

In recent years, there have been a number of efforts to combine advanced theoretical
work in comparative syntax with the well-established quantitative approach of sociolinguistics
in order to develop a theoretically informed program of research into morphosyntactic
variation with precise quantitative hypotheses and reproducible results. The construction
of large, diachronic parsed corpora (Kroch and Taylor, 2000a; Kroch et al., 2004)
has made this goal much more achievable by providing a body of data on which different
researchers can test predictions about syntactic variation and change, and where they
can challenge each other’s results directly by referring to the same set of raw obervations
(cf. repeated studies of the OV-to-VO change in early English: Pintzuk, 1991; Kroch and
Taylor, 2000b; Haeberli, 2002; Trips, 2002; Pintzuk and Taylor, 2004; Wallenberg, 2009).
However, this emerging field has suffered from the lack of a robust comparative dimension,
simply because comparable parsed diachronic corpora have not been available for
many languages other than English. Our project is one step in the direction of improving
the situation. In this talk we present an ongoing project that complements the precise
and quantitative approach to morphosyntactic change which was first made possible by
the construction of diachronic treebanks of English. Our project involves annotating a
substantial amount of text from every century of written Icelandic with a full phrase structure
parse, thus making it possible to study in detail the similarities and differences of the
history of English and Icelandic syntax. Some of the changes, such as the change from
OV to VO word order, were very similar, while others, such as the loss of morphological
case in English, have increased the typological difference between the languages. Having
a diachronic treebank of each language allows us to study the nature of the changes in
detail, as well as the interface between different components of the grammar as evidenced
by the statistical relationships between different changes.
While our project is still in its early stages we present some preliminary results from
our corpus on the position of possessives and the structure of the DP, passives, and
phrase structure change over time. These results are based on Icelandic data from the
12th century and the 19th century, and a comparison between our corpus and data from
the much larger diachronic English corpora.